Hulk 2 or
not Hulk 2. Is that a question? Marvel Studios may not want to hear the answer.
Hulk from 2003 did not perform to expectations at the box office starring
Eric Bana as Bruce Banner and Jennifer Connelly as Betty Ross. The two antagonists
were David Banner played by Nick Nolte and Sam Elliott was General Thaddeus
Ross.

The Incredible
Hulk reintroduces Edward Norton as the dual protagonist of Bruce Banner
& Hulk in Brazil where the first feature film left our conflicted scientist.
Liv Tyler is now Betty Ross, and the antagonists are William Hurt reprising
the role of General Thaddeus Ross and Tim Roth is Emil Blonsky who becomes
the unnamed Abomination villain.

Although the storyline
retains elements from the 2003 film, the 2008 sequel does not necessarily
break completely away like the successful Dark Knight revision of Batman.
The tension generated by a lost romance between Bruce and Betty is what humanizes
The Hulk, but Hulk 2 fails to ignite a similar appeal as passionate as Iron
Man or Spiderman.

One issue of concern
is the preoccupation with violent fight sequences. Rampaging among the citizenry
is bad form. The fire power used against The Hulk and Blonsky to stop them
is immeasurable. Guns and copious amounts of ammunition should not be the
only plot device available to carry this flick.

The jolly green
Sasquatch was one of several popular comic book characters created by Stan
Lee, first published by Marvel Comics in May 1962. Making the transformation
from print onto the silver screen has proven to be difficult for The Hulk.
Hollywood spindoctors have tweaked his origin twice now and finding a broader
audience remains evasive.

Hulk creator Stan
Lee enjoys interjecting a cameo appearance. In the first Hulk film,
Lee played a security officer and in Hulk 2, Lee opens a soda bottle tainted
with Gamma blood residue. This bio-contamination alerts General Ross as he
prepares a stealth military assault to recapture The Hulk.

Lou Ferrigno who
portrayed The Hulk in the 1977 television adaptation returns as a security
officer. Even the late Bill Bixby was fondly remembered in a brief t.v. screen
glimpse as Bruce was changing the channels. It's interesting to note that
Bixby and Ferrigno reprised their roles in three Hulk programs made after
the series was canceled. Both Thor and Daredevil from the Marvel stable of
characters were featured in two of these episodes.

As a surprising
epilogue, Tony Stark confronts General Ross in a bar downing shot after shot.
This short scene sets the stage for a future & major Marvel Studios production
to present The Avengers in a full length feature. Downey's innate hipness
is just so cool. His small bit injects a hint of humor that Hulk 2 lacks entirely.
How will The Hulk interact as part of a team of heroes when Banner is assuredly
a loner? Marvel Studios has faith in this scenario.